I don't know how television worked in 1969 (or today for that matter), but I wonder why there was a six month lag between taping and airing. Was that normal? Perhaps they had to think about airing it. This story always gets told as "Dead doses coffee, everyone has amazing experience," but you know at least one person lost their shit.

Apparantly Garcia was supposed to be in mid conversation with people there and when the camera started filming he came up with "so there we were, armed to the teeth with buck knives..." when Hugh Hefner cuts in with "Jerry..." Excellent improv from Jer. Buck knives. Must be a pretty common conversation piece around the Playboy lounge as no one really reacts to him, except one guys who repeats "Buck knives?" According to Dennis McNally's A Long Strange Trip, "There was a coffee urn, with cups lined up, and Hagen and Riester went by with eyedroppers, also making sure to acknowledge Hefner's personal mug of Pepsi. The coffee kicked in. Gradually, it became obvious that there was a new glow in the air. Things began to get odder and odder. As "Phil and Kreutzmann left, Hefner stopped them and said, eyes bright, 'I want to thank you for your special gift.'"

Smokin' Mountains! The St. Stephen would be perfection if only it kept going. The interview with Hef is super interesting--give this one a listen!

great interview on u tube also

Not bad. The Mountains is definitely worth downloading!

Yes, it's a real hip, groovin' kinda scene...Hef hanger w/Jer-O, followed by a mellow, laid-back Mountains on the Moon and a kick-ass St. Stephen (though they skip a few verses, no doubt at the behest of their TV puppet-masters....)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwDGcgJpFJo

Enjoy-ez!

HEF: what's the significance of 2 drummers.

JG: well, if you stand between them, it's comparable to 2 serpentines dancing in figure 8's around in your head. care to try?

HEF: NO!!!!

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the pancho, pig on congos, TC on keys.
historical moment in the bands history.
Hef didn't seemed pleased that his chicks seemed to checking out our boys more than him.
Hef tried to peak inside the bus, but instead was unwillingly dragged along by it. he almost got run over by it. HeHeHeHe!!!!!

I don't think he ever got over this evening, as shown by his ragtag mag's negative Dead reviews through the years.
In spite of this, he was ready to cash in on the Dead by including this performance on his DVD compilation. thank-god I found it on Netflix and didn't have to pay much to see a high quality video.

Check the show out, it's great to see suited 60's hipsters dance to the Dead on Hugh Hefners' Playboy After Dark.

Wasn't this Playboy After Dark? If it isn't where is that show, man?

Sounds fine for what it is. I had to have it.
Thanks for sharing. 4 Stars for overall sound and performance. It's a TV show....

Eat, drink be merry and listen to THE GRATEFUL DEAD.

Thanks for th love.

There is a video of this recording on the net somewhere and it's pretty cool.